Total unveils new member of Lumicene family

- New mPE is 25 percent thinner and stronger

 

- ‘Downgauging story is a never-ending quest to push the thickness limits of packaging down’

 

Total has launched Lumicene Supertough 32ST05, a metallocene polyethylene (mPE) film material that is said to be 25 percent thinner and stronger than existing films.

 

Supertough 32ST05 is a member of Total’s Lumicene portfolio. The Lumicene grade slate covers the full range of low (mLLDPE), medium (mMDPE) to high (mHDPE) densities.

 

Total said it is a “downgauging breakthrough for multilayer structures that embraces the industry need for easy to process, high-performance, lightweight solutions for the industrial packaging, personal care/hygiene and food sectors”, adding that the combination of strength and toughness of the new mPE overcomes the “traditional limits and drawbacks of thinner films, allowing converters to create a very strong film using less material but with the easy processing advantages of LDPE”.

 

Using Lumicene Supertough 32ST05, flexible packaging firms can produce “super-thin, highly-durable, lightweight multilayer films that offer excellent processability on extrusion and conversion lines”.

 

Potential areas of application include deepfreeze and lamination films, and highly-demanding shrink applications, for example glass bottle unitization.

 

Carl Van Camp, senior vice president of Total’s polymers division said: ‘The downgauging story is a never-ending quest to push the thickness limits of packaging down. Where these limits of downgauging are reached, Supertough 32ST05 steps in to give the necessary boost in toughness to overcome the thickness barrier.’

 

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